Let’s not follow Europe’s model in integrating immigrants

Australia needs a long-term vision to achieve a complete integration of its immigrants. Jean-Marie Simart shares his views on how to adopt a successful model for a harmonious and fully integrated society.

I left France in 1979, at the age of 35, as an expatriate from a French bank; destination Tokyo. My English? School level. I never went back (with the exceptions of short vacations or business trips).

The following 20 years I worked and lived in five different countries (including Australia) in the Middle East and Asia before settling down in Sydney at the end of 1998 with full citizenship.

My country of origin, France, whose problems with immigration regularly ornate the front pages of our newspapers, and my experience in many different countries as a ‘stranger’, make me particularly sensitive and interested in the issues raised by immigration.

Whether we want it or not, an immigrant arriving in a foreign country always creates a cultural shock – for himself and the local residents.

It is the duty of the Governments of the receiving countries to make this shock minimal in intensity and duration with the long term vision of a complete integration. Unfortunately political considerations come in the way most of the time.

In order to have a realistic and efficient discussion on the subject, there are a few preambles which must be kept in mind:

• There are different types of immigrants: the immigrant ‘by love and personal choice’ (that is my case); the immigrants for economic reasons; the immigrants for political persecution. The first category will integrate easily and most will stay in the country for life; the second category may also stay for life but won’t necessarily integrate; the third category will not integrate most of the time and will often go back to the original country when circumstances change.
• Any political correctness must be forgotten; and no topic, solution and discussion can be put aside.
• Not all cultures and practice of religions are equal and blindly acceptable.

This being said, the mixing of different cultures and races is highly beneficial to a society on the long term, but it must be done in a correct environment.

The first principle is: A multiculturalism that is simply the cohabitation of different origins, religions and cultures without any common values can only lead to the catastrophic situations sporadically faced by the Europeans countries.

Let’s take Australia: We have strong values of ‘fair go’, equality, and openness to differences; we are an English speaking country, predominantly Catholic but with a secular Government. Any immigrant must be aware of these values and learn English as fast as possible. A common language is the first and one of the most important bases for a harmonious society.

The second principle is: Immigrants are welcome to bring with them their different ways of living, cooking, of seeing things, of entertaining, but must not try to force them onto the citizens of the country they are arriving to. The adaptation to the others must not come from the latter but must come from the arriving foreigners.

There is a very sensitive topic: the religions. It is so sensitive (and political), that very few Governments monitor it properly. Here again, the following strong principle should be always kept in mind: Any aggressive public demonstration and display of a certain religion is offensive. I consider religion as an act of faith, which should be private and shouldn’t be ostensibly put in the face of others. Wearing publicly a kippha is as aggressive as wearing the Islamic hijab, let alone the burka. In all public places all religious signs should be prohibited, and a constant dialogue between the Government and each religious authority must be put in place to educate the faithfuls in this regards.

An important factor in the integration of immigrants is the constitution of ethnic ghettos. While it is practically and legally almost impossible to prevent directly (except in the very specific situation of Singapore), Governments and councils can help the different communities to mix by carefully planning the location of schools and places of worship which are more often than not the cores of an ethnic concentration.

Australia is still in a moderate situation where the Governments (federal and states) can deliver a harmonious and fully integrated society, but this long term vision must have precedence to any short term political action. It can be done based on: making clear to any newcomers what the Australian values are, to ask for a commitment to them, zero tolerance for breach of these values and for preaching hatred against others, a several years delay in acquiring citizenship (like our P plates for driving), and finally making sure that our values are always prevailing, whatever the circumstances.

Let’s analyse the mistakes made in Europe to make sure we adopt a different and successful model.